Ljubljana - The government confirmed on Thursday a bill that extracts the field of gas supply from the umbrella energy law and regulates it independently, with the additional provisions dealing with emergency measures and implementation of the solidarity mechanism of aid to EU member states in the case of gas supply disruptions.

Announcing the adoption of the bill, the Government Communication Office (UKOM) noted that energy in Slovenia was regulated by the energy law, which needed to be constantly amended and supplemented due to constant changes of EU law.

As the subject matter is getting increasingly detailed and complex and it is getting more difficult to transpose EU directives into Slovenian law, the government has decided to regulate gas supply as part of a separate bill.

"There is a need to divide the content of legal regulation of the energy sector, which is currently contained in one act, into several independent acts," UKOM said.

It added that certain provisions are the same as the relevant provisions in the existing energy act, while some have been amended or added in order to make improvements based on the experience with the implementation of the umbrella law.

The bill determines rules for the operation of the gas market, production, transfer, distribution, storage and supply of gas, and protects consumers and determines the manners and forms of performance of public service in this field.

The new provisions related to emergency measures in the case that gas supply is disrupted to the extent where forced reduction or suspension of gas supply is necessary in order to keep the gas system running.

Also added are provisions that are required for the implementation of the solidarity mechanism of aid to EU member states in the case of disrupted gas supply that are complementary to the planned bilateral agreements in this field.

The bill, drafted by the Infrastructure Ministry, also enable and encourage connecting producers of renewable and low-carbon gases to the distribution system, which is in line with the objective to decarbonise the gas supply sector.